St. Lucie County Statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Uniform Crime Reports.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY - The number of crimes in seven categories, including murder and burglary, dropped significantly last year in St. Lucie County when compared to 2011, according to statistics released Thursday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The countywide numbers dropped 15 percent in 2012 from 2011 in the crimes of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, according to the FDLE.

Statewide, the numbers decreased 5.7 percent.

The total number in St. Lucie County went from 9,502 in 2011 to 8,077 last year during a period when the population increased by less than 1,000 to 280,355.

"We're obviously very happy to see that the numbers continue to go down, especially in light of the beleaguered economy that we continue to face," said Fort Pierce police Chief Sean Baldwin, whose agency saw an 8.9 percent decrease.

"We're always trying to find a trend that we need to respond to," Port St. Lucie Police Chief John Bolduc said.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office investigated the fewest number of crimes of the county's three main law enforcement agencies in the seven categories — 1,844. That agency worked no homicides, compared to three by Fort Pierce police and four by Port St. Lucie police.

Sheriff Ken Mascara noted legislation that tightened restrictions on scrap yards could have played a role in the crime decrease.